


dearest, you said

by Abstract_Thoughts



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe- Mermaids, And many may be added, Attempts at historical accuracy, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Burglary, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Lots of Anti Monarchical Statements, M/M, Magic, Mermaids, Multi, Murder, Pirate Shenanigans, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Ship Raiding, Sibling Rivalry, Somewhat Unsympathetic Morality | Patton Sanders, Spooky Mermaids, Warnings May Change, but they're kingsmen so its fine, cause FUCK unethical distributions of power, kind of??? hes a product of his time okay, no betas we die like men, sword fights, various historical figures - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24058345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abstract_Thoughts/pseuds/Abstract_Thoughts
Summary: The Golden Age of Piracy, and the crew of the Psyche is prepared for another season on the seas, raiding ships and sending kingsmen to the bottom of the seas!At least, they were until they found a mermaid in the hold of an English warship- now, Captain Roman de Laurens is prepared to find a buyer for the creature, one of his crew, Virgil, seems to know far too much about the thing, and his brother appears to have come back from the grave.Also, his brother has magic powers, which... Is something he is not sure how to deal with.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 15
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello ladies gays and non binary also gays its me  
> your bitch  
> and i know what you're thinking  
> "wren, why don't you fucking sit down and finish just one wip for once"  
> and to that i say. fuck you!!!  
> also this fic contains deceit's name so if you haven't seen svs redux, please go do so!

**March, 1717. The Caribbean Sea**

Captain Roman de Laurens had always loved the sea.

It was much better than rivers, anyway. The Seine stunk like piss and whatever fancy alcohol His Imperial Majesty had decided he was going to use to drown a servant that day. The Thames also stunk of piss and alcohol, except His _other_ Imperial Majesty chose the alcohol.

The Caribbean, though? She smelled of salt and gold, blood and flesh, of change and _opportunity_. She was a fickle bitch, but one Roman had come to love dearly, as much as he loved any man.

Well, not _any_ man, but one in particular.

Logan Abbott was standing about 30 cm to his left, standing straight and at attention while Roman practically leaned on the wheel of the Psyche. Logan was tall, though not nearly as tall as Roman, with dark curls that stopped just past his ears and pale skin that was paler against it. He had freckles that became darker in the sun, loved learning as much as he loved gold and wore glasses in order to read, even when he didn’t have to.

And he was the love of Roman’s life.

In time, historians would debate this. It would be a hot button topic at a conference in Berlin in 1982 when Roman’s journals were found in a cache in what would then be the Dominican Republic with Roman referring to Logan as his ‘dearly beloved husband’.

Oh, the sight of the academics trying to spin that one as “a close friendship” would be a laugh and a half.

But then was not now- now they were pulling back into Nassau for the first time in nearly 7 months (spending the rainy season at sea was not Roman’s first choice, but Virgil always seemed to know when storms were coming. If he was an idiot he would think the kid was a witch) but it had been necessary.

Speaking of Virgil, the kid slunk up to the quarterdeck. He was quite a few years younger than Roman, only about 19, and every time Roman looked at him he thought the kid was going to break in the wind. He wore this patched up black vest and a blouse three times too big for himself, his dark skin had darker bags under his eyes and his thick black curls needed _such_ a chop, but every time Logan or Roman offered he snorted and called them a fabulous string of Greek curses.

So he was good in Roman’s books.

“Good afternoon, Virgil,” Roman beamed at him.

“Afternoon, Cap’n. Men says we’re hitting Nassau in ‘bout an hour, sir,”

“Logan?”

“That is an accurate assessment, yes,” he leaned off starboard a little and pointed along their course, “You can see the edge of the island from here- we are within range,”

Virgil stared at him for a second, “You just always speak scholarly man, huh?”

“No, I speak the King’s English,”

Virgil snorted, shaking his head, “Whatever- I’ll start readying to set anchor,”

“ _Merci bocoup_ , Virgil!”

“ _De rien_ , Cap’n,”

Roman watched him go, then turned to Logan, “I would kill for him,”

“As you’ve said for months now, dear,”

“I would! Anyone who tries to hurt him, Logan, I would slice thrice up, down, and sideways!” Logan mouthed along with Roman’s declaration, and smiled at him. He slid closer to Roman, putting one arm around his shoulder and using his free hand to tilt Roman’s head up by his chin,

“Roman, darling, you are the most ferocious Captain on the Caribbean,” he kissed him, “but I would suggest you focus on manning the ship instead of kissing me,” his cocky smile was about to send Roman overboard, and Virgil shouted from the deck,

“Oi! Get a fuckin’ room!”

“Never!” Roman declared, but Logan slinked off of him casually, returning to his position.

“Let us see how Nassau is fairing,” Logan grinned, “I have missed the smell of piss and vomit!”

“Drop the anchor!” Logan shouted, “Get the goods out of the hold!”

As the men scrambled about to do just that, Roman moved to his side and slid his hand around his waist, “Home sweet home,”

“Is anywhere home but the sea, Ro?”

Roman chuckled, “You are, my love,”

“Is that so?” Logan leaned in to kiss him, “You are surprisingly romantic today,”

“And you aren’t?” he slipped out of his lover’s grasp, spinning around and holding his hand out, shifting to a British accent, “Oh, Roman, the love of my life! My wonderful darling-”

“That’s not what I said!” he threw his head back and laughed, taking Roman’s arm none the less, “Let’s go speak with merchants, see their price,”

Roman nodded, “Virgil!”

“Yes, Cap’n?”

“You’re coming with us- we’re headed down into town. The rest of you! Bring this lot down onto the deck, once we’ve spoken with merchants, you know the drill!”

Roman held his arm out, which Virgil nervously put a hand on, “... I- I’ve never been to Nassau, sir,”

“Well, then let’s show you the sights!” Logan grinned.

“Ah, yes!” Roman laughed as they walked down the gang plank, “Here is where I watched Jack Rackham vomit his guts up! A man pissed on me here, and no it was not consensual!”

Virgil laughed a bit, “Sounds like quite the place!”

“Nassau is a pirate’s haven, _mon petit ami_ ,” he assured him, and Virgil kicked him in the shin,

“I’m not _tiny_ \- I’m just smaller and faster than you,”

Roman managed to laugh through his wince, “Fair’s fair, then, lad,”

They slid into the crowds by the docks and into the city- a small port, yes, and quite a bit ramshackle, but it bowed to no King but it’s people, “This was a British colony, first,” Logan explained, “A port in between Saint-Domingueand Havana, if memory serves, and it was burned down and rebuilt by the British and Spanish recently and their... Spat,” he grit his teeth, “They talk a lot about how much they care- but clearly they only wish to control,”

“That does appear to be the case,” Virgil nodded, and Roman spun a bit so he could walk backwards and start talking with his hands,

“No _Royal Majesty_ gives a fuck about his citizens- only his profit and how much land he can flaunt at the next convention,”

Virgil laughed, “Oh- that’s true!”

They’d broken into the centre market, and several merchants waved to Roman. Roman raised his hand to wave back, and a scream broke the quiet serenity. A man stumbled into the courtyard, holding a bloodied hand. All attention turned towards a man leaning out of a doorway, dressed in an apron and brandishing a _steak knife_. He wasn’t all too tall, curly blonde hair pulled back to the back of his head, freckles and large, ground glasses. Patton Lovelace- a dear friend of Roman’s- was clearly pissed off, “And you tell Bonney exactly what you did, Klive!”

“I’m going, I’m going!” the bloodied man, Klive, scrambled off towards the docks. Roman just grinned, sauntering up to the blonde,

“Bonney, Patt? Not Rackham?”

Patton snorted, “And what’s he gonna do, hm? Yell at them? Or just tell Anne or Mary to deal with them, anyway?”

Roman nodded sagely, “That’s fair- hell hath no fury like a woman pissed off,”

Patton’s grin turned soft, “That is absolutely true! And I’m so glad to see you!” he pulled Roman into a hug, and held out his arm, “Come on, Logan! Join us!”

Logan quirked an eyebrow, “I am not one for physical affection outside of Roman, Patton, you know this,” despite his words, he stepped into the hug.

“Oh, I missed you guys!” Patton squeezed them a bit, then his eyes widened at the sight of Virgil, who looked _fabulously_ uncomfortable, “And who’s your friend?”

“This,” Roman said, “is Virgil! We picked him up along the peninsula- he’s a scrapper, and a sweetheart,”

Virgil snorted, “I ain’t no sweetheart, Cap’n,”

“Lies!” Roman declared, “You are a dear, and part of this crew regardless, so, definitionally, you are a sweetheart,” Virgil just blushed and called him a string of Greek curses, “My point stands!”

“ _Malaka_ ,” Virgil spat, but he was grinning a bit despite it.

“Damn right!”

Patton just laughed, “You boys want to come inside? After you’ve done your business, of course,”

Roman nodded, “That seems fair- Virgil, you can go wander about for now, but try to be back here within the hour?”

“Of course,” Virgil nodded and stepped away, mockingly saluting them as he disappeared into the crowd.

Virgil hated Nassau.

It smelled of piss and shit and pirate vomit, blood, flesh and far too many humans.

He loved humans- he did! They were fascinating, and he wasn’t pretending to be one for no reason. He just...

God, he hadn’t had uncooked, unsalted meat in _months_. He managed to slip away to the beach, and kicked off his boots, setting his feet down in the salt water. It wasn’t so much a shock to the system as much as it was a _relief_. He imagined it was the same feeling humans got when they settled down into a warm bath after doing hard work all day. He leaned forward into his knees, just wiggling his toes a bit, and almost lept out of his skin at the sight in the shallows.

The top half of a head was poking out of the water. Dual coloured eyes stared at him, though both had long, slit pupils. There were scales along the person’s face, though several were cracked or even missing on the left side, and there were fins where a human would have ear cartilage.

Virgil just sighed, shaking his head with a smile, “Do try to give me more of a heart attack again, Jan,”

Janus swam a bit closer, pulling himself into the shadows and setting his elbows in the silt, putting his chin in his webbed hands. He grinned at his brother, his teeth long and sharp, “And where’s the fun in that?”

Virgil snorted, “You’re a prick, brother,”

“Ah, there’s where you’re wrong!” Janus raised a clawed finger, “I am _the_ prick,”

Virgil laughed, throwing his head back, “Oh, you’re an asshole!”

“It’s genetic, I’m told,” Virgil kicked at him, which splashed in his general direction, “Honestly- how _do_ you move around with those things? It seems... Painful,”

“It’s painful if you do the spell wrong,” he snorted, “Like- it’s literally just transmogrification, and it’s not that hard,”

“Illusion’s more my style, Virge, you know that,”

“Oh, I know,” he grinned, “Lord of the _Lies_ ,”

Janus snorted, “A badge of pride, messere!”

“’Course it is,” he rolled his eyes, “Seriously, though, I should get back before the Captain has my head,”

Janus’ smile fell, “Your _Captain_ is an asshole,”

“I know,” Virgil shrugged, “Means he’s good at his job,”

“That is not necessarily a truth...” Janus turned his eyes away from his brother, but pushed off from the shallows, “I will continue to follow at a distance- you know how to speak to me if need be,”

“Of course,” Virgil started to pull his boots back on, “Janus?”

“Yes?”

“I love you,”

Janus smiled, “I love you too, Virgil,” and he swept down into the harbour, presumably settling himself down under the ship. Virgil stood, dusted the sand off himself, and made his way back to the stinking city, going to find his captain- his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey gang sorry for the wait  
> had a bit of a shit mental health time there for a while- turns out!! we're a system imagine that shit- so.  
> it just felt... wrong? to write wren's work for them but we're pretty sure they're just. they're not fronting anymore at the most, but they did give us their blessing so  
> uwu have some gays

Virgil ducked back into the bakery, smiling at Roman and Logan as they looked up,

“Ah,” Logan gave a half-smirk, “the prodigal son returns,”

“I ain’t proj-i-dal, there, Specs- just me,”

Roman laughed, and Logan grinned wider, “It’s from the Bible-”

“Ah, that’s why I don’t know it!” he pointed at him, and Logan snickered, turning to Patton, who looked a bit confused,

“Virgil follows Pagan gods,”

“Oh?” Patton’s expression shifted to a complete 180, and he grinned wildly, “You do!? That’s _amazing_!”

“I get the feeling it ain’t as common over here,” he mumbled, moving over to lean against the counter, “But yeah- specifically Poseidon. He’s an asshole, but he knows what he’s doing.... I hope,”

“You _hope_?” Patton repeated, “He’s- isn’t he the sea god?”

“The sea, yes, but also storms, earthquakes, and horses,”

“Horses?” Logan asked.

“Seems a bit out of place, that last one,” Roman mumbled, “How do you keep track of so many?”

Virgil shrugged, “You don’t- I don’t think Athena or Thor are particularly pissed off that I don’t offer sacrifices to _them_ ,” at all their expressions, he grinned a bit, “Just _food_ , you weirdos,”

“Oh!” Roman put a hand over his chest, “Thank God,”

“I’m no priest- ain’t my job to sacrifice an animal,”

“Good to know,” Patton nodded, “So- you ever had a pastry?”

Virgil’s face scrunched up, “... I may just not understand the translation,”

Patton slid over a plate of baked goods, far flakier than anything Virgil had ever seen, “One of these?”

“.... No, I haven't’,” it came out barley a whisper, and Roman chuckled a bit,

“Nothing!” he said at Virgil’s glare, “You just- you’re like a _child_ staring in through the window! It’s sweet!”

“ _Malaka_ ,” Virgil hissed, but took one of the pastries, anyway, biting it hesitantly. He nervously bit into it, and he smiled, “Oh my gods...” he whispered, “This is _wonderful_...!”

Patton grinned, “I’m glad you like it, kiddo!”

“Kiddo?” Virgil quirked an eyebrow.

“He calls everyone that,” Roman grumbled,

“It is a play on words,” Logan explained, “Kid is often used in reference to small children- thus, is is a term of endearment,”

“Oh-” Virgil smiled nervously, “Thanks, then,”

“Always here to help!” Patton assured him, “And if it makes you smile- all the better!”

“You are just a vision of positivity,” Roman grinned, “I missed you,”

Patton whacked his arm a bit, “I missed you too, you big softie!”

“Missed me enough to join the crew?” Roman leaned forward across the counter, “ _My_ crew?”

Patton leaned closer, too, “And leave all the wonderful folks here in Nassau?”

Roman laughed, “Like who- Rackham? Teach? They’re-”

“- pricks!” Patton nodded sagely, “That they are... I guess with the right motivation, I would do just about anything,”

Roman grinned, “ _Oui, oui, mon ami_ , understandable. Logan handles the books, so..” he shrugged, “You’d of course get paid well,”

“Hm,” Patton said, “Alright- sounds fair to me,” he grinned, “Always down to kill some kingsmen,”

“Fuck yes!” Roman threw a fist in the air, “We leave port at dawn, my friend,”

“Fan _tastic_!”

...

Virgil leaned over the edge of starboard, staring out over the water. They’d left port 12 hours ago, and had managed to hit absolutely no other ships.

... Where was Roman taking them? What was his plan?

He was way too tired to deal with that, and just leaned over the edge of the ship, letting a small purple flame dance it’s way up his hand and to the tip of his finger. It hovered there- unmoving, except for the slight flicker in the movement of the ship. Fire didn’t work like that, and anyone who’d ever seen a flame would tell you exactly that. But Virgil just lazily hovered his hand over the water, and watched the colours _dance_.

Magic responded to magic, and the deep blue of the ocean shifted between its natural sapphire hues and the dark purple of Virgil. He hummed in contentment.

“And do you intend to out yourself?”

Virgil lept, his hand going to his sword before he saw his brother leaning on the railing. Janus grinned, all those teeth familiar and comforting. Virgil relaxed, but Janus snickered, “Did I _scare_ you?”

“Yes, you absolute _prick_!”

Janus barked with laughter, “Oh, yes, my apologies brother! I figured I should just _let_ one of your foolish human companions discover you! Would they burn you at the stake?”

Virgil’s face scrunched up, “I don’t think they do that anymore,”

“Really?” Janus snorted, “Bo- _ring_!”

“Only you would find a lack of _actual literal murder_ boring,”

“It is a _skill_ , brother dearest!”

“I hate you,”

“No you don’t,”

They settled into a comfortable silence, Janus leaning a hand out lazily to add the soft yellow glow of his magic to Virgil’s purple, “You don’t,” he smiled gently, and Virgil smiled back, “Are you okay? You never explained this,” he gestured vaguely, “ _exploration_ of yours,”

“It’s not an exploration! It’s a scientific expedition to understand the social and political in groups of human societies-” Virgil paused in his long strides to stare at his brother, who had been mouthing the entire speech along with him. He raised a hand and flicked towards him, and with a spark of purple Janus went tumbling overboard, “ _Malaka_!”

Virgil snickered as Janus poked his head up over the edge of the starboard rail. He spat a water spout at his brother and snarled, “You, Virgil Chorokaen, are a _monster_ ,”

Virgil grinned, “Oh?” he offered, holding his hands at his sides as the water behind Janus began to rise, creating a shadow over the two of them. Virgil’s eyes glowed, and the transmogrification on his teeth shuddered, revealing sharp, shark-like teeth, “You want to see a monster, brother? Because _that_ I will show you,”

Janus shrieked with laughter, throwing himself off the edge of the ship, and Virgil took the chance to throw the water down onto his brother, and spent a few minutes swinging his hands about as he tossed his brother through the tides.

He let up, and wandered over to lean on the edge of the ship and wave at Janus, who flipped him off.

“I love you!” Virgil called as his brother dived back down, “We’ll chat later!”

...

The plantation was a small island, long stalks of cane sugar stretching upwards, the ramshackle living spaces for slaves, and the opulent manor house that could be seen from the shore an absolute eyesore But, as the sun started to go down and torches went alight, the _Psyche_ shifted a bit closer to shore, and a small boarding party took off in the dingy.

“Loot is nice,” Roman said, “But we aren’t getting anywhere until the master-” he made air quotes with his fingers, “- is dead. Do _not_ kill the workers- they don’t have a choice, and are most likely slaves. Stick to the plan, and we’ll be fine,”

Patton was vibrating, “Oh, this’ll be _so_ fun!”

Virgil just grinned, and the dingy hit the shore. The group split up and crept through the plants, and Virgil was...

It was too quiet.

He hadn’t seen a worker, he hadn’t seen guards, or security, or anything. He froze in his step when he went to sneak between squares of sugar and saw a body.

Humans... Humans couldn’t kill other humans like that, right? Humans couldn’t make skulls explode and leave green, glowing edges on the bone and flesh and- and-

Fuck.

Virgil stood up, all of the desire to sneak vanishing as he _ran_ , following the trail of bodies with glowing marks and wrong _wrong_ wounds and-

“Roman!”

Virgil froze, realizing Roman had come to his side to put a hand on his shoulder as he was panicking, and frantically reached over to grab onto Roman and try to breathe. There were fingers in his hair- Roman’s- and they were calloused and _human_ and Virgil just kind of leaned into his friend, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

There was conversation happening, and Virgil shakily raised his head and-

“... Remus?” he asked, and the man on the balcony above them cackled. He was dressed in some definitely stolen green overcoat, despite how tattered it was, and his firey red hair was untied, his moustache not brushed, either.

“Vigil!” he called, “I thought I recognized you, how’s it going?”

Roman’s fingers froze a bit, “... You two know each other?”

Remus winked at Virgil, “Oh, we _know_ each other,”

Virgil made various spluttering noises, and he pulled out of Roman’s arms, “We- that-” he dug his fingers through his hair, “You _left_ me! You don’t get to say that!”

Remus’ smile fell, and he sighed, throwing himself off the balcony. Roman shrieked, but Remus slowed down as he fell, and the obnoxious heels he’d probably stolen off the body of a British officer clicked onto the stones gently, “Relax, Ro. Also- I killed this guy!” he kicked open the doors to the manor house, and there was the headless body of a man in rich, obnoxious clothing. His head was perched on a sword, and there was a group of people in work clothes dancing and having a fantastic time.

Remus turned to grin at them, and Patton raised a hand, “So. So let me get this straight- you’re Virgil’s... Ex lover?”

Remus’ smile shook again, “Look, I didn’t-”

“You _did_ ,” Virgil snarled, and Roman threw his hands up,

“Virgil, were you going to _tell_ me you were with my twin brother, or?”

Virgil froze, and examined his fingers, “You... It didn’t seem that important, Cap’n. I just.. I thought it was just a coincidence, honestly...”

Roman sighed, and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder again, “Alright, sorry,”

Virgil nodded, and Remus whooped with laughter again, “You!?” he demanded, “Apologizing!?” he barked another laugh, “Oh, fuck, Ro, do you just. Do you see mother’s face on every person you say sorry to?”

“I see her dead, burnt face,” Roman snarled, “I killed her with my own hands, and seeing my enemies as her makes it way more fun,”

Remus blinked, then whooped, “Fuck _yes_! I hope that bitch is burning in hell!”

“She is, brother, I promise,”

“Nice, nice...” Remus hummed, “Why the fuck are you in the Indies, anyway?”

“I’m a pirate,”

“Oh!” Remus wiggled his fingers, showing off a few gold rings, “Me, too!” there was a few moments of silence between the men, the only sound the cheering and singing of the party goers, and Remus asked, “... Can I join you?”

“No,” Roman said immediately, and Remus whined,

“But _Ro_!”

“You hurt Virgil. No,”

Virgil hummed a bit, and said, “He... He is a good swordsman, Cap’n. He’s a good fighter and he’s a good crew member. I can ignore our personal issues,”

Roman looked at him sadly, “Virgil- your safety is most important-”

“I’ll get over my personal shit Cap’n,”

“... Fine,” he turned to glower at his brother, “But you’re on thin fucking ice,”

Remus threw his hands up, and several green flames lept from them, “Yes!”

Roman and Patton shrieked, leaping back from him, and Roman took a shaky breath, demanding, “What the _fuck_!?”

“Magic,” the other man said as if it was a _casual_ thing humans accepted. He did _not_ get to be this adorable and attractive Virgil was still mad at him.

“Ma-” Roman blinked, then pinched the bridge of his nose, “Fine, whatever. Can you tell all these folks that they can take positions on the crew should they wish, and regardless we can transport them to wherever they wish for living purposes?”

Remus blinked, “... Yeah? I can try,”

“Thank you,”

Roman watched his brother go, and shook his head, “ _Magic_ ,” he repeated, seeming very scared, “... I. I gave up on magic a long time ago,” he looked at Patton, who was shaking a bit, “I’ll keep us safe, don’t worry,”

“I know,” Patton said, and Virgil could feel his eyes on him even as Virgil watched Remus worm through the crowd, “I know,”


	3. Sorry for the Wait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh hi  
> we have no excuses for ourselves lskdjflj chapter three letsa go

This was ridiculous, Roman decided.

Ridiculous, utterly _ridiculous_.

Remus had at least been giving Virgil space- thank _God_ \- but he’d certainly taken far too much a liking to the crew, and them to him. The assistant Quartermaster, as they’d come to call Thomas (he was officially just a deckhand, but he and Logan ended up problem solving together so often they’d tossed him the title), had been quite scared of Remus at first but was warming up to him. It made Roman want to _vomit_ , and he gripped the wheel a bit tighter as he watched them chatter to each other.

“Roman, _mon cheri_ ,” Logan said in French, “You may want to take a breath. I’m sure they’re just chattering,”

“Exactly,” Roman narrowed his eyes, “I only let him come so he doesn’t become a threat _to_ us,”

“I understand that,” Logan assured him, one hand going over Roman’s, “but just take a breather, everything is going to be alright,”

Doing as he was told, Roman took a slow, deep breath. And then another, and another, and decided that this was still ridiculous.

“I should just throw him off starboard,” he grumbled, and Logan snorted,

“You saw him leap off a 3 story balcony with zero trouble,” he gave his husband a serious look, “I wouldn’t test the limit of that power, love,”

“Magic,” Roman grumbled, “Of all the bloody fucking things to learn exi-”

“CAPTAIN!” Roman shot to attention, and there were several men pointing port side, “MAN O’ WAR!”

Oh _fuck_.

“Fuck- evasive maneuvers!” Roman shouted, and Logan repeated it to the crew. Roman spun the wheel away, “I want men on cannons, gunmen in the nest I-” A cannonball shot past him and hit the water on starboard side, “Shit, shit-”

Another slammed into the mast, and screams erupted as men fell from one of the nests, “Keep the rigging steady!” Logan shouted, leaping down onto the deck to assist.

The momentary panic of Logan leaving his vision shot into his chest, and Roman didn’t even notice his brother right next to him until he leaned into his vision.

Instinctively, Roman elbowed him in the face.

“FUCK!” Remus shouted, and his brother kicked at him,

“I’m trying to sail us away from the fucking British Man o’ War, you absolute buffoon!” Roman shrieked in French, and Remus shrieked back,  
“I know! Just let me sink ‘er!”

“Si- _What_!?”

“No!” Virgil was grabbing Remus by the arm and dragging him down from the helm, “Nope, no, not doing that- stupid idea-”

“It’s a brilliant idea!”

“Captain!” Logan shouted, and Roman looked up, “We may have no choice but to engage!”

Roman grit his teeth, kicking his brother away from the helm with one foot, “May?”

“We can try to evade, but they’re getting closer, sir,” there was silence on the deck, not for the sound of men below them loading canons, “On your orders,”

“Damn it- if we go down, it’s not with our tails between our legs! Prepare to fire!”

Logan grinned, and god damn if it wasn’t stunning, “Yes, sir!” he turned to bark orders to the men, and Roman settled the Psyche in for a battle.

He didn’t have high hopes against a Man o’ War, but he was sure as hell going to try.

MAY, 1997. BERLIN.

“This is ridiculous,” Soon-to-be-Dr. Brighton mumbled, wondering if she’d made a translation error. She ran her finger down the old, fragile journal papers again and sighed.

“Whats up, buttercup?” her roommate, Brigid, asked.

“Just these journals- this guy can’t be serious, can he? I mean- first he tells us his brother has magical powers and now they’re going to fight a Man o’ War?”

Brigid shrugged, “You chose Captain de Laurens- and from what I’ve read he was quite the embellisher, even for a pirate with that big of an ego,”

“Also... He calls Abbott his ‘plus tendre amour’, which like… ‘dearest love’? Weren’t they both guys?”

Brigid shrugs, “Pirates didn’t seem to care about the  _law_ , Fran,”

“ I know, just...” Brighton bit her thumb, trying to ignore the way Brigid’s hair was very pretty against the sunlight behind her, “Whatever, I’ll get back to it later,”

“Sounds like a plan! Want some fancy German coffee?”

“What else is studying abroad for?”

T HE CARIBBEAN SEA, 1717.

The Psyche slammed her hull against the Man o’ War- she’d taken extensive damage in the fight, but nothing that wasn’t fixable. Roman shouted for the men to board and let go of the wheel, grabbed a free rope and lept off the railing, landing in a roll next to the British captain.

He stood, dusted his red coat off and bowed mockingly, “Bonjour,” he quipped, and parried the other Captain’s blow before the man could even notice he had his sword out. 

He could hear, vaguely down on the deck, the sound of his brother cackling, but he ignored it in place of enjoying kicking the British captain down and slamming his sword into the man’s chest. 

Course, that meant at the same time the other captain raised his sword and it shot straight through Roman’s shoulder. He screamed, but pulled the sword out of the dying man’s grip and almost pulled it out before he remembered Logan would personally murder him for that. So instead he held it in one spot with one hand and pulled his sword out of the other captain’s chest with the other.

“Your captain is dead!” he shouted, and the fighting slowed to a stop, “Surrender, and join my crew, or walk the plank. Your choice,”

The kingsmen grumbled, but Roman tutted, “You have until the ship is stripped- so let’s get to it, boys!”

His crew cheered,  and as they started their work, Logan practically threw himself at Roman and made several spluttering noises, “You have a sword!”

Roman blinked, “..... Yeah?”

“In your shoulder!”

“Oh, that,” he shrugged, “We took a  _Man o’ War_ ,  _mon_ _plus tendre amour_ , who cares!”

“You won’t say that when there’s an infection!” he grumbled, “Carr is going to  _kill_ you,”

“Oh, she can try,”

Virgil glowered at Remus, who shrugged, lowering his hand from his brother’s direction, “He’s not going to bleed out,”

“And  _you’re_ going to ruin my cover,”

“Cover?” Remus barked a laugh, “Virgil, my brother is so thick in the skull he could see 17 fairies pass right in front of him and not even blink,”

“I mean, you shouldn’t engage unless they speak to you first-”

“I’m being dramatic, petunias,”

“.... Oh,”  Virgil shifted on his feet, “Seriously though, keep your shit to a minimum, I don’t want to be burnt at the stake or whatever they do now a days,”

“Are you kidding?” Remus laughed, “Ro loves you so much I doubt he’d let anyone hurt a hair on your head!”

Virgil blushed, turning away from Remus, “.... No, no, he’s just looking out for the fragile kid he thinks I am,”

“ Uh huh,”

Patton slid into their space, “You boys wanna help strip the ship, or are we just gonna stand around twiddling our dicks?”

Remus stared at him, but Virgil snorted, “No, sir, I’m comin’,”

Virgil followed a few steps behind Patton down into the brig. 

“Sir!” called one of the men, “Check this out!” Virgil pushed through arms to the front of the group.

And his heart almost stopped.

It was Janus- his brother, his  _brother_ \- tied up against the wall and almost as dry as a bone. Virgil heard only his heart in his ears, smell his brother’s drying skin, and he scrambled for a water bucket against the wall to toss on him.

Janus gasped, breathing deeply as the water seeped into his skin. Virgil realized he was on his knees next to him and sobbing into his brother’s hair, holding his hands,

“Hey,” Janus cooed in their native tongue, “Shh, shh, I’m okay-”

“ No you’re not-” Virgil was ripped back by a strong hand, and he screeched- a bit unnaturally high, but no one would think too much of it. Hopefully- and Patton physically was putting himself between Virgil and Janus.

“Keep your magics to yourself, siren,” he snarled, and Virgil spluttered, very confused,  
“Patton, he’s  _dying_ -”

“ We won’t let him, kiddo, don’t worry- just go take a breath-”

“No! No, I’m not leaving him down here with you-”

“Alright,” Patton put his hands on Virgil’s shoulders, “Alright, you can watch me untie him, okay?”

Patton was acting..... Weird. But Virgil nodded despite himself, too hysteric to think about it. He watched, dutifully, as they untied Janus and he could only weakly drop into their arms.

The image of him effortlessly throwing himself around on the side of the ship not a week and a half ago hurt to think about.

“... How long did they keep you...?” he muttered, and Patton shot him another worried look.

“ I’m sorry?” Roman repeated, staring at his friend.

“Virgil appears to have been... Magicked? By a siren,” Patton repeated, and Roman pinched the bridge of his nose with his good arm.

“Here I thought I left magic bullshit back in France-  alright, what do we do about that?”

“Talk to him, I’d imagine,”

“ What would that help if he’s enchanted?” Logan asked, “Isn’t this like... Akin to a madness of some kind?”

Patton hummed, “Just putting the doubt in his head and making sure he keeps distant from the thing should do,”

Roman nodded. He wasn’t even surprised anymore, “I’ll talk to him,”

“ Just be gentle,” Patton said, shaking his head, “You should’ve seen the way he leaped to it’s side- he doesn’t know any better,”

Roman nodded again, not really sure what else to say,  and slipped out of his quarters and down the hall.

It was far past sunset, but he eventually found Virgil on the deck, as usual. He was staring out at the sea, this very distant look in his eyes.

“Virgil,”  he said, and the kid jumped,

“Cap’n?”

“ Can I talk to you? About earlier,”

Virgil stared at him, “It was  _dying_ , Cap, you can’t just leave someone- something-”

“No, of course not,” he nodded, “But Patton saw you speak it’s language,”

The colour drained from Virgil’s face, “I- I swear-”

“I know you probably couldn’t tell,” Roman continued, moving to lean against the rail next to him, “But by the looks of it this thing got it’s claws in you- enchanted you,”

Virgil stared at him dark brown eyes wide. He’d take his thick hair out of it’s braids, and it was curling around his face as his breath picked up, “W... What?” he choked out, and Roman smiled in a way he hoped was  assuring,

“It’s okay,” he insisted, “We’ll keep you safe, I promise,”

“...... Yeah, yeah okay,” he nodded rapidly, “Okay,”

“Okay,”


End file.
